In the production of pressure seal mailer type business forms, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,785,242, 5,553,774, 5,513,795, 5,253,798, 5,201,464, and 5,366,145, various types of pressure seal equipment such as manufactured and sold by Moore North America, Inc. of Bannockburn, Ill. are provided. Typically, however, two way mailer constructions are not possible to produce using one of the simplest and most effective pieces of pressure seal equipment known as the Moore PS-2 (Model 4420) pressure sealer. When utilizing that pressure sealer typically nested envelopes are utilized, however that limits the speed of the mailer production to about 4500 mailers per hour. By effectively using the PS-2 sealer with a mailer having a built in reply envelope, it would be possible to increase the production speed to about 10,000 units per hour.
According to the present invention an intermediate for a mailer type business form, and a method of making a mailer type business form from the intermediate, and the mailer type business form so produced, are provided which allow production utilizing the Moore PS-2 sealer, so that the high rate of production set forth above, and other advantages, may be achieved. This is accomplished by changing the location of the pressure activated cohesive (such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,918,128 and 5,201,464) for forming the reply envelope so that the patterns of cohesive are more inward of the side edges of the intermediate and mailer than otherwise are conventional. The cohesive patterns for sealing the reply envelope are positioned so that they are aligned with the spaced rollers of the PS-2 sealer when other rollers of that sealer are aligned with the pressure sensitive cohesive in the side margins of the intermediate/mailer which seal the form for mailing. The invention is particularly suitable for use in eccentric C-folded configurations of intermediates/mailers.
According to one aspect of the present invention a mailer type business form intermediate is provided comprising: A substantially quadrate cut sheet of paper having first and second faces, top and bottom edges substantially parallel to each other, and first and second side edges substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom edges and substantially parallel to each other. The top and bottom edges spaced a first distance, and the side edges spaced a second distance, less than the first distance. First and second lines of weakness formed in the sheet adjacent, but spaced from and substantially parallel to, the first and second side edges, respectively, to define first and second removable side margin portions. First and second fold lines formed in the sheet substantially parallel to the top and bottom edges, and defining the sheet into first, second and third panels. At least one first pattern of pressure activated cohesive in each of the side margins on at least one of the faces, the patterns for holding the sheet in a folded configuration as a mailer. The first panel is defined between the top edge and the second fold line, the second panel between the first and second fold lines, and the third panel between the second fold line and the bottom edge. Second patterns of pressure activated cohesive on the first face in the second and third panels cooperating with each other when the intermediate is C-folded about the second fold line to define a reply envelope, and disposed on the opposite sides of the first and second lines of weakness from the first and second side edges. A reply envelope closing flap formed in one of the panels and extending substantially parallel to the top and bottom edges. A pattern of adhesive provided in the closing flap. And, the second and first patterns of pressure sensitive cohesive each having an effective width of about 3/8 inch or less, and spaced from each other in a first dimension parallel to the top and bottom edges a distance of greater than about 0.25 inches and less than about one inch.
By providing the first and second patterns of pressure sensitive cohesive so that they have effective width, and spacing, set forth above, they will be aligned with the rollers of a Moore PS-2 pressure sealer. Preferably the first and second patterns each have centerlines; and the centerlines are spaced from each other substantially the same distance that centerlines of parallel sealing rollers of a Moore PS-2 pressure sealer are spaced from each other. For example the centerlines are spaced from each other a distance between about three-quarters and seven-eighths of an inch.
The first and second patterns may be strips of cohesive; for example the first patterns may be discontinuous strips of cohesive translated in the first dimension (that is some portions spaced from others in the first dimension), and the second patterns are substantially continuous strips of cohesive. Typically the first patterns of cohesive are also provided on the second face of the third panel. Also third patterns of pressure activated cohesive may be provided on the second face of the third panel adjacent the second fold line and elongated in the first dimension, and the third patterns may have length in the first dimension of at least about one-half inch, so that they are also activated by the rollers of the PS-2 sealer.
In one preferred embodiment the flap is disposed in the second panel spaced at least one-half inch (e.g. more than an inch) from the first fold line, and the first and second lines of weakness are spaced about 0.7-0.8 inches (e.g. about three-quarters of an inch) from the first and second side edges, respectively. Preferably the sheet side edges have a length of about eleven-twelve inches (typically either eleven or twelve inches, the twelve inch length being disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/461,374 filed Dec. 15, 1999, and the top and bottom edges typically have a length of between about eight-nine inches, preferably about eight and a half inches.
The invention also relates to a method of making a mailer type business form from an intermediate as described above utilizing a pressure sealer having a plurality of rollers spaced from each other in the first dimension and each having a width substantially as great as or greater than the effective width of each of the first and second patterns of cohesive--preferably the Moore PS-2 sealer. The method comprises the steps of: (a) C-folding the sheet about the first and second fold lines to bring cooperating portions of both the first and second patterns of cohesive into engagement with each other; and (b) passing the folded intermediate through the pressure sealer so that rollers operatively engage the intermediate aligned with each of the first and second patterns of cohesive to form a completed sealed mailer type business form with a self-contained reply envelope.
Typically (a) is practiced by eccentrically C-folding the sheet. For example the third panel is of smaller length dimension than the first and second panels, and the flap is in the second panel spaced from the first fold line, in which case (a) is further practiced so that the third panel does not cover the flap. As described above preferably (b) is practiced using a Moore PS-2 pressure sealer.
By practicing the method as described above it is possible to effectively produce about 10,000 mailers per hour, as compared to about 4,500 mailers per hour if a nested return envelope is required. For example (b) is practiced at a production rate of greater than 7,000 mailers per hour, e.g. about 10,000 per hour, and all ranges between about 7,000-10,000.
The invention also relates to the mailer type business form produced by the method as described above and from the intermediate as described above.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an intermediate for a mailer type business form, a method of making the mailer, and the mailer so produced, which are advantageous in that a particularly desirable sealer (such as the Moore PS-2 sealer) can be utilized to effectively produce a mailer type business form with a built in reply envelope. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.